Hallelujah! Lockout is Over


I’m guessing Braves news will be coming fast and furious today so this thread will do its best to keep up with it!

Here’s first big rumor!

Author: Ryan Cothran

Ryan is the site editor and manager of Braves Journal. Follow him on Twitter.

59 thoughts on “Hallelujah! Lockout is Over”

  1. I’d definitely think this lockout will produce a lot more short-term deals than in a longer offseason, so hopefully there are some one year deals out there.

    Hey, maybe Freddie takes a one year deal and comes back. Kick the can down the road another year.

  2. If you’re on Instagram, you can tell that Chelsea Freeman would love the glitz and glam of Los Angeles on a year-round basis. They’ve already been spending the winter at their oceanfront home (estate?) in Orange County.

  3. To be fair, if you looked at the vast majority of baseball wives/GFs instagrams, you could easily come to the same conclusion.

  4. FWIW, Freddie grew up in the OC, an Angels fans.

    I def wanna keep him, but if he ended up in Chavez Ravine with his extra contract year, it wouldn’t shock me.

  5. From #68 in the last thread:

    “While I agree that the changes implemented could have been agreed to long ago since they aren’t exactly cataclysmic, this is the way these things always go. The offseason has been less fun, but it’s the season that matters and at least we will get the whole thing.”

    That sentiment is what MLB is banking on (quite literally.) It doesn’t always go this way because the owners and players have been able quite often to agree without a stoppage in any way. This year has been different and we should not fool ourselves as to the why. I’ll still follow the game, such that it is. But my love for it has been wounded as far as the game I’ve watched all these years. But if the Braves re-sign FF5 and win another? Ok…all may be forgiven.

  6. The other side of the Freeman thing is we can’t wait too long either. Rizzo and Olson may be snatched up too (of course that would cut into Freeman’s market some as well.)

  7. The Olson price is reportedly sky high, unsurprisingly. I think you’re looking at a package of Michael Harris, Langeliers, and a third prospect to get it done. But then Olson is a FA in two years, and he’s not going to be cheap in arbitration. I can’t see AA parting with the prospects to get Olson. Freeman only costs money.

  8. @6 If we’re willing to spend $25-30M per year or the prospect equivalent to get a power-hitter who plays a non-premium defensive position, I think we should be able to find someone. With that said, I hope it’s Freddie.

    But we could have Duvall play 1B, and then we just go get a masher corner outfielder, then we could do that too. When you’re playing Acuna, Albies, Dansby, Riley, Pache, and your catchers almost nothing, you can probably dump most of Ozuna’s salary, then you have a lot of flexibility to figure out how to get 600 PAs of a .900 OPS back. Once again, hope it’s Freddie.

  9. Why do y’all reckon that there hasn’t been a single decent FA signing once the dam broke? We all know they were talking the whole time. Are they waiting off on announcements and/or final decisions to throw the scent? Were some teams legitimately not talking to agents and therefore the market never actually solidified?

  10. Taken with a grain of salt…

  11. Freeman is not willing to discount us then .. go get Rizzo , Rosario and Verlander and roll

  12. Robbie Erlin is a NRI with the Dodgers. With a career 4.85 ERA in 335 IP but throwing with the correct appendage, that guy has been paid a lot of money to not be good at playing baseball. With that said, he does have a shiny 3.79 FIP. God bless America.

  13. I assume that right now, Alex Anthopoulos is headed to Freddie Freeman’s house to hold a boombox over his head, like John Cusack in Say Anything. Here’s a good song for him to play:

  14. @18: And if Freddie doesn’t listen, threaten him with my favorite Sloan song.

    at which point –>

  15. @18, isn’t there some rule prohibiting teams from bypassing the agent and talking to the player directly (or am I taking you too literally)?

  16. Morosi hasn’t broken news since the Reagan administration.

  17. Don’t be sad that it ends, be happy that it happened. That’s been my mantra since they got rid of Simmons. Time to turn the page. We won the World Series, and will always have the memories.

  18. I guess I just expect Freddie to leave now…tough to go against what your wife wants (see Tom Brady). I also don’t feel like this is a death blow either. The return of RAJ, money freed up to keep Soler, Rosario and maybe sign Rizzo… could be a net improvement to last years team

  19. If FF or Mrs. FF just want to be in LA then so be it. This rumor seems like it might be a strategic leak designed to light a fire under ATL though.

  20. @28 I agree. They have to really sell it that they’re willing to go elsewhere, and this is the best way of doing it, probably.

  21. It’s time to start lining up recappers for the season! Let’s pick some days! Tuesdays are taken by TFloyd and Thursdays by Jonathan F. Other days are wide open!

  22. I hate the thought of losing Freddie, but it concerns me even more if we lose him that we’ll either give up a boatload of prospects for a decent 1st baseman or we’ll be stuck with an Adam Laroche type for the next 10 years.

  23. @33,
    1. There were lots of years we wished we had Adam Laroche.
    2. Also, if you get second half LaRoche for both halves, that would be really good.

  24. It would improve my stats to have Cliff hitting right behind me. I think Bill James demonstrated a long time ago that protection is not what folks think it is, but even so I’ll feel better knowing his big bat is on deck.

  25. Mets keep improving .. we sit on hands …they trade for A’s best starter .. Mets rotation good me strong .. Braves .. we take leftovers

  26. Olney I suppose was wrong about Freeman possibly signing last night .. the heard in next 24 hrs .. well guess one he will let everyone know he’s LA bound

  27. We are down to Friday and Saturday recaps and, unfortunately, Alan cannot do it this year. With 2 young kids, I’m also not able to fill that need.

    Anyone able to cover the weekend?

  28. @40 = Sounds a whole lot like last year. I’m okay with the Mets amazing improvements again this year as long as we see similar results. Come to think of it, every year the Mets win the preseason hype battle but it rarely translates to results on the field.

  29. @42

    ‘Saturday, Saturday
    Saturday, Saturday
    that’s alright…
    that’s alright.’

    no pigs

  30. No news on the Freeman front. The fact that it’s gone on this long, i.e. the start of ST, my amateur interpretation is that AA is trying to get to a deal. Or, at least, they’re trying to lay the narrative that they did all they could.

  31. We are only stocked with DH types if we sign Soler and Rosario. I’m assuming we aren’t pursuing them all that hard. Cruz would be a one year deal which is AA’s specialty.
    But signing Cruz would mean Ozuna would have to play the field most days. That’s not a pleasant thought.

  32. I have started to understand the reluctance to give out the 6 year deal with the way the Miggy Cabrera and Pujols deals played out. Keep him or lose him, I just want to see where we go from here. This sitting here with no news stinks after sitting for 3 months of a lock out

  33. @50–my amateur interpretation squares with yours—so we must be right. 😀
    I suspect Freddie is entertaining offers from both the Braves and Dodgers and there may be something of an auction going on. I imagine Freeman is informing AA of any offers from other clubs and at least giving the Braves a chance to try to match (or come close).

  34. 38-year-old Nelson Cruz gets a 2/$28 deal with a player option for $15 from the Nats. No way AA was in it for more than one year.

  35. ESPN says Cruz signed with the Natspos for 1/15 with a team option for a 2nd season.

  36. Nelson Cruz is 41 years old. He slowed down a little bit at the end of the year last year, but has put up solid numbers over the last 4 or 5 years without a lot of digression. He also hasn’t had many injury problems. 1/15 for him as a DH looks like a good deal to me.

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